Mayo goalie Hennelly for social media awareness meeting

St Ultans GFC are holding a social media awareness night on Thursday 26th January, in Bohermeen Community Centre at 7pm. It’s a free event and all are invited. Mayo goalkeeper Rob Hennelly will be the guest speaker, and community Garda Tony Brady will also be speaking.

St Ultan's secretary, David Ball says: “The reason we wanted to run this event is because so many of our members now use social media. Both young and old. We communicate with our members via different forms of social media. There is a darker side to social media. As a club we didn’t want to bury our heads in the sand on the issue. The event isn’t aimed to tell people what they should or shouldn’t be doing. Rather we want to inform and educate people.'

St Ultan's hope that Sergeant Brady will be able to give tips and advice to parents on how to keep themselves and their families safe online. Things to watch out for and be aware of when it comes to social media. Rob Hennelly, who played for Mayo against Dublin in the All Ireland senior football final, in place of regular keeper David Clarke, will be speaking about his own personal experience of social media. How it can be used for good. And how negativity can affect people online.

Only recently statistics were released that said eight out of 10 adults in Ireland are on some form of social media. With one in four increasing the amount of information they upload and share online. The figures and statistics are very high for young people as well. Last year it was reported that one out of five 9 – 16 year olds have accessed harmful or distressing content online. That doubled since 2011.

The aim of the event is to help keep people safe online. The talk will be wrapped up by 8pm with tea and coffee provided afterwards. For more information please follow St Ultans GFC on https://www.facebook.com/StUltansGFC/ and https://twitter.com/StUltansGFC.